First of all, Happy Summer Solstice! What a wonderful thing to celebrate—the longest day of the year, the finalization of our hemisphere’s bow to the sun, a time to start counting down to the long, cozy nights of the winter to come. I can’t help but think that, cyclically, this is the top of our seasonal wheel and we’re celebrating a brief breath at the peak before we continue to spin madly on.
Alaska’s state flower, the forget-me-not, likes the lots-o-light!
Our vacation through the Midwest is over—and what a momentous vacation it was! Our adventures took us from Bozeman, Montana to Valley City, North Dakota, and finally to Minnetonka, Minnesota. The highlight from all of these lovely places and all of the great things we did was…drum roll, please…I’ve returned to Alaska an engaged lady! And I’m not just any engaged Farmgirl, I’m engaged to one of the best men out there (in my opinion).
bonnie ellis says: Alex: Ah young love. I remember 50 years ago when I was you. God bless you to have a wonderful life! (The pictures are fun and you are a great couple)
Thank you, Bonnie! We are looking forward to many decades together!
Adrienne says: Congratulations and best wishes to both of you! What a wonderful story.
Many thanks, Adrienne! We kind of like the story, too 🙂
Nan Roberts says: Awwww. Thanks for sharing your lovely fairytale story. God bless you both, and your marriage and life together. I love that frog. The sweet thing. May you have lots of frogs and such to go with lots of kids.
Nan in Oregon
Thank you for your well wishes, Nan! I love the frog too–knew right away I had to catch it for a photo op.
Coleen says: Congratulations!!!! I love fairy tale endings (beginnings).
Here’s to farmgirl dreams.
PS… I really enjoy your blog.
Awww, thanks, Coleen! Fairy tale beginnings are fun!
Congratulations on your engagement. The magical tale of about the appearance of the frog was delightful. Have you set a wedding date?
Thanks, Cleda! No wedding date yet–probably two summers from now. We’re not afraid of a long engagement 🙂
Laura says: Many heartfelt wishes for a beautiful and happy life together! What a love story ! Blessings to you,
Laura
p.s. love love that ring!
Thank you for the kind words, Laura. Blessings and love to you as well!
Kathy says: I have been following your Farmgirl blog for a while, sincerely jealous of the adventures you’ve been having in Alaska. Oh to be young again! The frog story gave me the chills! Congratulations to you both, you make a darling couple – love Evan’s smile in the pic with your little niece! It sounds to me that the two of you have become good friends, which makes a sound foundation for a marriage. I look forward to reading all about the planning stages of your wedding.
Thanks, Kathy! I’m sure I’ll need some farmgirl help with the planning–it will be a slow process for sure. Evan is a keeper, I’m a lucky gal to have found him!
I love a happy ending and this story has one!
Congratulations to you all! Many blessings in your life together!
sister Deb( BEACHFARMGIRL )
ps. I can hardly wait to see the wedding picks!
meredith says: Wow! Great story and greater ending (beginning!)- Congratulations and best wishes for a long and happy life together! I love your ring too!
marci says: Congratulations on beginning a new adventure! You have such great memories already to build a relationship. They will keep you through the hard times. God bless you individually and together
Pam deMarrais says: Alex, I am so happy for you and Evan! You make the perfect couple. I look forward to hearing about your wedding plans. It is so nice that you are waiting a bit to tie the knot. That will give you time to savor every moment as the big day approaches. I loved reading your story, especially the happy ending!
Kay Ruh says: The joy in your faces has brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing your love for one another, and for your families which we are so blessed to be a part of.
What a great celebration our time together was! Can’t wait to do it again!
Love, Kay and Bill
Denise (Kracht) Wadeson says: Congrats to you both your future mother-in-law about attacked me this morning with this news. I graduated high school with Evan and work with his mom. Again congrats and look forward to reading about all of your adventures.
Betty Thompson says: Congratulations and may your future be filled with magical times.
Gail Pederson says: A Mom couldn’t be much happier with those happenings on Memorial Day weekend! We are so blessed to have you in our family. Thanks for bringing "the son who runs the farthest" back to the country life.
Becky Bartlett says: Alex,you really became part of our family immediately. I amso happy that it will be a permanent bond! Your love for each other radiates warmth to those around you. It will be such a pleasure to watch it grow even stronger.
Marla MacBeth says: Congratulations, Alex! Of course he is nice and from a great family. They are from North Dakota! Yes, there are nice folks everywhere but those Northern Plains people are extra special! Enjoy every minute of your adventure together!
Evan and I arrived in Montana on Monday (the 21st) for nearly two weeks of vacationing through Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota! After several weeks of working our tushes off, it has been great to see the loving faces of family and friends in the lands we call home. As mentioned in my previous post, I just finished my first year of graduate school and have spent the last week and a half catching up with all that was put off during the final crunch. Evan has been working double duty with me as well—he’s a real life saver.
“Growing Up” by Jeffrey Hamilton, 1999
Pamela deMarrais says: Hey Alex, I love your wish list! I don’t see any reason why you won’t attain everything on it, and then you can start another list! Your enthusiasm is inspiring. Keep sharing your ideas and your great stories. I hope that you have an awesome vacation!
Laura says: Hi Alex
Keep the dream alive ! You have fantastic visions for yourself and I can easily see you living that life, you have started doing so already. I also am still dreaming even at a different stage in life (my 2 boys are teenagers), yet I still have dreams of a farm suited especially for me, having and planting my favorite things. I have to say that yak calf is cute! Have to look into that, lol. Happy dreaming! "Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will."
— George Bernard Shaw
farmgirl blessings, Laura
Evelyn S. says: I loved what you had to say about growing up. I got tears in my eyes. If you ever open that school you were talking about, then be sure and let us all know where to come and visit! When I grow up, I want to have never-ending patience, lead a not-so-hurried life and live somewhere, where I can’t hear the cars whizzing by.
Shery says: You’re on a good track :o) I loved the description of your to-be children as ‘nearly feral’. That is what once was possible in this great country. I know because I lived it. Children wandered about and no one gave it a second thought … and that was in town. We lived on the fringe – very small town in Wyoming. So, ‘out of town’ meant you were Ab-So-Lutely OUT out of town probably before you saw the city limits sign. I wandered about all day in the summer on my pony…showing up only for meals. My mother knew my approximate whereabouts: somewhere around or on the outskirts of town and it was totally normal. I was packin’ iron sometimes because I carried my pop gun with me during ‘hunting season’ ;O) OhMyYes, live where you can let your children have FREEDOM … freedom to play and know what it is to be free. I think that is one reason it has lost some of it’s importance in some folk’s minds. So many have lost it little by little and now they don’t really know what it is to have it in the most real sense. You don’t miss what you can no longer remember the flavor of.
Well, I digress. Love your dreams. Go and live them! If you’ve not seen the movie ‘2nd Hand Lions’…do so. It is about this very thing … and the comment made at the end, ‘Yes, they really lived’…is what I’m talking about. shery
Green. This word conjures up a handful of images. What does it make you think of? The color? An inexperienced person? Money? Envy? New growth? I, along with many of you, my fellow Farmgirls, am inextricably drawn towards shades of green.
These brussel sprouts want to be outside.
My own climate is much closer to yours. Here in the high desert of Central Oregon I’m still growing tomatoes and basil and flowers and veggie starts in the house and trying in vain to harden them off each afternoon outside. Alas! The night temps have been 16 and 22 the last two nights. Yes, too frigid for tomatoes. So they are now 2′ tall and starting to flower. I keep waiting. Even with Frost Blankets and surrounded by jugs of water for the thermal mass… it’s iffy. Sigh. Oh for a greenhouse!
Love the look of that basil. Yum! is right!
Susan
Kathy Barger-Harbert says: the midwest is a rich forest of green right now with gardens well started with vegetables, fruit setting on tree and bush, lush pastures and fat sheep. I’ll bet the green in Alaska will just explode over the next few weeks for you.
Nan Roberts says: You can grow basil in Alaska. Wow. I live on the Central Oregon Coast. We had a present the other night of air from Alaska (thank you so much) that brought us a frost warning, so I wrapped my jasmine in a blanket and covered the plants that had wintered over in the house with more blankets.
It’s in the 40s at night here now, and in the 50s, usually in the daytime.
But in my particular place, I can’t grow basil, nor tomatoes nor peppers. Hot here is about 70, which happens rarely. And we get a lot of wind in the summer, too.
But the forests are indeed very green, the alders are out completely as well as the underforest, so everything is vivid new green, just beautiful.
Our country provides such amazing contrasts! Here in Central California we are expecting 95 degrees today (unseasonably warm even for us); I can almost SEE my tomatoes, lettuce, strawberries, and squash plants growing. But unless we get some more rain, things will not stay so beautifully green for long. Enjoy your greening world!
It’s finals week here at Alaska Pacific University, and this farmgirl is feeling the crunch! Fortunately, I have some de-stressing techniques. While sometimes it’s hard to find the time to actually employ those techniques… they are still nice to think about!
Easy Stress Relief in the form of Taz!
Sharon says: Great topic! Lately when things are busy and stressful and I am unable to make it to the beach during the day (which is my favorite place to go to de-stress), I will take some time at night to either pop in a cd or pick a station on Pandora and bust a move/rock out/bee bop around the house. My cats really love it if I sing along too >^..^<
Loved your post Alex. I too am a rural farmgirl, but living in rural Idaho instead of Alaska. One of my favorite de-stress tips is to take a footbath in warm water with some essential oils. I can read, study, blog, or check e=mails while doing so, but just soaking my feet really seems to take the stress out of my life.
Good luck with your finals!
Marji says: Hello Alex from your farmgirl sister in the wilderness north of Nenana! Spring is the time my stress level rises. After a long winter(and you know how long this one has been) of planning and devising all those summer projects by the time the snow is melting I am starting to feel overwhelmed worrying about how I am going to get it all done in our short summer. I find the best stress buster is to just get outside and take in nature. Pretty soon I’m cleaning a flower bed or moving planters to the greenhouse, raking fall leaves or just sitting in the sun watching the dogs play. These are my "aaahh" moments. Now if I can just find my "to do list". :)) Have a great summer!!
Nicole says: I am a college as well, and it seems that stress has been a constant companion. I only find a sense of calm at my farm, I just wish we were at a place financially that we could be there all the time. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your life.
Exciting news from Spring Creek Farm! Well…at least exciting for my learners, other folks on the farm and me. The eggs hatched! We now have ten adorable chicks. Five hatched from the first clutch and five from the second. They were here just in time for Easter, and I have to say…I’m in love.
Is this where Cadbury Mini Eggs™ come from?
Shery says: I’m right there with you in the ‘thrilled’ department. I’ve hatched out hundreds of chicks and to this day, each and every one is just as fun to watch as the very first one. I think that is the magic of living close to the land and animals. The wonder of it all never fades (for many of us anyway!)
I LOVED all the photos and that lamb is sooo cute. It was fun to read your post because I got a dose of 2nd hand enthusiasm — which at the end of this day felt good.
I told myself that this spring, I really don’t need chicks this year. I knew when I said it that the odds of sticking to that statement were kinda iffy. Guess where I’m headed in the morning :o) … to pick up half a dozen day old pullets!
Thanks for another fun post!
Happy Spring Alex! I so loved this post… I can smell the hay and Duke and feel the soft fuzz of your baby chicks too!
You are right, something about being around " the farm " IS soothing, comforting and just feels right. I hope for your very own farm one day! Sounds like you will be right at home there!
thanks for a wonderful post!
Deb ( your beach blogging sister )
Roberta says: Happy Spring to you all from Appomattox, Virginia. My neighbor who i recently became friends with has a mini farm…some goats, sheeps, chickens, ginnie hens and geese. Recently he has been hounded by a fox who got 5 chickens. He is new to farming and he has educated himself very well and does an amazing job, but this fox has to go…any ideas?
Thanks
Roberta
Diane Loehr says: I Loved this article. I am also a huge animal lover but not to the scale of your farm. I just love all of them, but the photo that I thought was adorable was Maybe! Soooooo darn cute! I just want to pet him. I think the next step is to write a book with lots of photos telling us about what it like having a farm. I could picture myself on a porch, in a rocking chair, with a cup of coffee or Green Tea, smelling the hay, and reading a book like this! Think about it!
HAPPY SPRING TO ALL OF YOU!
Maureen says: Alex- I really enjoyed this post. Your chicks are adorable. Love the pictures of the farm animals that you took care of. If I had a fabulous looking animal like Maybe I would try to turn him into a house pet! Love ya, Mom
Gail Pederson says: Loved this article and so fun to see the photos. "Birthing" is one of the few things that is missed by my husband after we quit dairy farming in 2001. The thrill never goes away. Pulling calves…even calf mouth to mouth…getting the little bugger to drink out of the bucket when we needed to start milking mama. Nurturing that new life…so cool. Another memory of much younger days as you speak of eating the chickens…scalded feather smell to pluck them. Have had several conversations with people about this recently. A smell never forgotten. Blessings, Gail
April says: Loved this post! I totally cracked up about spending 15 minutes trying to figure out which crackers to buy! So true…sounds like me! I think having everything at the farm would make my head less stressed out. I don’t like grocery shopping either these days. Too much stress! Being outside with God’s creation is so much better! I’m dreaming of our farmfresh eggs from our new chicks (have to wait till September for the egg part) and cheering on my seed starts! Enjoy your adventures!!!
~Farmgirl Hugs!
April
Sharon says: Alex,
I just wanted to drop a quick line to let you know that I love your voice and writing style. You have very quickly become my favorite farmgirl blog (no offense to any of marjanes other fabulous farmgirl blogs meant). Keep up the good work and thank you for sharing your unique perspective.
Sharon
Deborah says: Alexandra,
I just finished reading your latest post and I have to say you absolutely touched my heart with your writing, photograhs, the simplicity and thoughtfulness of all your words. I am so happy that I found your blog through Mary Janes Farm world!! I have many of the same thoughts and feelings that you share with farm life. I have three boys and we own a log cabin in Montana on about 23 acres. We can only go there on vacation, since we still live in Los Angeles. My husband and I are in law enforcement and cannot wait until we finally can call Montana our permanent home. Soon:)Please keep the writing and beautiful stories coming. I will be sure to read every one of them. Blessings
After my last post about feeling wanderlusty and yearning for a change of scenery, it appears that my wishes have been granted. The last few weeks have been full of growth, new faces at Farm School, almost an hour and a half increase in sunlight (!!), and new adventures in chicken egg incubation.
Our homemade candler. This egg is infertile.
Theresa L. Talarek King says: I enjoyed this article very much! It was fun following the progress of the eggs and how the children experienced this along the way – all the teachable moments! Standing on eggs!! I’m tempted (sort of) to try that. 😀
I love the kind of school you have. It’s just the kind I would love to have started myself, or to have had available to my daughter when she was so young. Keep up the great work!
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Thanks Theresa! Louise’s Farm School is a great program, and I’m honored to be a part of all of the fun and learning that goes on here.
Nan Roberts says: I love the "abdomen" and "digest". That is so funny.
and the standing on the eggs thing. But did *you* stand on the eggs? I’m curious to try this now. But I want to know if you did it too.
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Hi Nan! I did not stand on the eggs! However, I have seen videos of adults doing it. We laid down parchment paper, opened a carton of eggs and snipped off the parts of the carton that were taller than the eggs Then we laid another sheet of parchment paper over the eggs and very gently stepped onto them with flat feet, using our friends for support until all of our weight was distributed. It was a hit with the kids!
What a wonderful post! You bring a breath of fresh spring air to my gardener’s mind…imagine doing all that in Alaska! Wow! Keep up the great work, indeed!
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Thanks, Nancy! Agriculture is a challenge in Alaska, but it’s a challenge I’m eager to take on!
Thank you for your "illuminating" story of the incubating eggs! I have two inquisitive granddaughters who would love to attend a school such as yours, if we had one here in central California. Happy Spring!
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Thanks Fawn!
There are more and more schools like this popping up all over the place. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for Californian opportunities :).
Kj says: Ahhh, so many memories come flooding back whenever I read your post! Alaska is definitely a beautiful and unique place….My husband and I lived in Alaska for 13 years, our firstborn son was born there, I attended APU but back then they did not have the school/farm – what a wonderful and fun opportunity – and we were the first in our neighborhood to plant a garden…we even had a resident young bull moose one winter who enjoyed our raspberry bushes and we had one inquisitive enough to peek in our kitchen window. And, oh yes, I’ve been to the peak of Pioneer Peak 🙂 Thank you so much for your posts – Alaska has a special place in our hearts and Palmer especially since it is farmgirl country. Enjoy your chicks – we have one hen who hatched out 2 in February and we have a broody hen now on a nest of 5 or 6 – gotta love spring! ————————————————–Thanks for the Alaska connection, KJ! I’m looking forward to climbing Pioneer Peak this summer!
Anna says: I enjoyed your blog entry! I just had to tell you that I DO have a broody hen sitting on nine eggs right now. I homeschool my boys (ages 4 and 6) and I can’t believe the amount of teaching that comes from having chickens. Tonight, we will try to candle the eggs. Wish us (and Georgiana, our broody Buff Orpington) luck. If none of them hatch, I think I will buy some chicks from the feed store for her and sneak them under her at night. She’s going to be a good mama. We should have REAL peeps by Easter. ———————————————————————————Thanks for the chicken story Anna! Georgiana sounds like a farmgirl’s best friend. Good luck with the candling, it’s very fun!
Mary Jane says: Yes, I am a Mary Jane. I have a broody hen and we bought 6 eggs from someone with roosters and have put them under the hen. Unfortunately, the other two hens keep laying their eggs on top of the broody hen and I broke one of the good eggs while trying to get the other unfertile eggs out. April 7 or 8 is due date. Hopefully we get some chicks. I have never raised them but the hen was on the nest broody for so long we decided to give it a try.
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Thanks for the story, Mary Jane! Good luck with your eggs and chicks!
The egg story is fascinating! I’m (almost) tempted to get a brooder and give it a try!
Thank you for sharing!
Shery says: A good flashlight in a dark closet works great. Just hold the egg right on the light lens and you can see everything. This is definitely ‘chick’ season. I’m trying to resist the temptation of buying half a dozen. My will power is seriously weakening. ;o) If only all the children in this nation could benefit from such a wholesome education.
Every once in a while, I get extremely wanderlusty. Wanderlusty is not a real word, but it is so fitting for what I feel as winter comes to an end … it’s different than cabin fever. I don’t want to leave this amazing farm at all; yet I still dream about venturing to far-away places.
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The Greenhouse longs for spring and wind-less days, too!
I’ve had the opportunity to travel overseas when I was younger 🙂 🙂 i still love to travel. However, I’m at the point in life, where I just want to stay in one place. I’d love to have a place with a yard big enough to grow my own food 🙂 ): That’s a dream of mine!!!
Alaska is GORGEOUS. I went there to visit my grandmother, once, when I was a child…before she moved back to California!!!
Love and hugs from the ocean shores of CAlifornia, Heather 🙂
According to Dorothy Gale, the greatest adventure is in your own back yard. But sometimes you have to go over the rainbow to see it. May you have an adventurous spring!
Connie says: I really enjoyed your blog Alexandra! Thanks for sharing! Happy Spring! :o)
Laura says: I totally understand the either/or feeling. Ties that bind or wander free. After raising 2 boys (both in high school), I am holding out for some "wander lust". A trip to other continents, a swim with the humpback whales…Maybe when I get that out of my system, I can get the chickens, cow, sheep, goats ??? that I also always dreamed of. For now, my gardens satisfy all 😉 buona primavera to you !!
As someone who used to travel to Europe almost every summer and who hasn’t been in 10 years, I’m definitely wanderlusty but not as much as I probably should be. Rather, I’m more interested at this point in doing nothing on vacation which means being at the beach, lying in the sand, maybe reading a book. Hopefully this contentment will last!
Tina Robinson says: Lets try this again… Thank you for sharing the read.. Everything has turned green here even the crocus have already bloom this my sign to start my seeds inside for my garden now,I can see spring is on its way:)
Shery says: Welcome Alexandra to the MJF blogging team! I’m awed by your sense of adventure and it makes me feel as though age 20 isn’t as far away as it is in reality. Yes, I had wanderlust!! Yes, I followed it – not globally, but in this country as much as opportunity allowed. I loved back-packing into the mountains.
What a grand trail you are on. I’m so looking forward to seeing what your world looks like when it isn’t under all that snow. Louise, your inspiration, was quite a woman!!
My wanderlust hasn’t really waned, you find ways to follow it in a way that works for your age. Sleeping in the ground is over for this farmgirl…but I have a packhorse and a new little glamper. Love the FRESH view of your farmgirl wilderness! Take me where I may not walk anymore ;o)
Pam deMarrais says: Alexandra, I love your blog! You present a new perspective on farmgirl living. Your love of all that surrounds you and your passion for life and very engaging. Thanks for bringing us into your world!
Diana Spires says: There are seasons in our lives. I traveled with my parents as a child, being somewhere new every two or three years. Loving the experience of new cultures and environments. This life did not allow us a planting season or animals.
I then settled for 35 years to build a home in the country, and raise three children. My husband and I farmed and were almost self sufficient for years. Raised animals and enjoyed the wandering wild life. I have had the comforts of a warm fire and the cat on the hearth along with the faithful dog by my side. All these years of living on the farm, loving every minute of it, I still yearned to travel and experience life away from home. Only having two cats left on the farm now, I can only hope they will be fine without my presence for a few days at a time with only the company of my husband. I plan to have only seasonal gardening and travel when the earth rests. In a life time you can do all that your heart desires.
Frances says: This is really something!
Lately, I have been ruminating over the word “beginning.” It is so fitting at this time of the year, with the New Year right behind us, and the spring waiting to peek its face out at any moment.
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An early spring sun begins to shine over Pioneer Peak and the snow-covered hay fields
Adrienne says: Welcome aboard! I look forward to reading your posts and learning more about one of the few states I have never visited when I was a full-time RVer. Congratulations on becoming the Rural Farmgirl!
Thanks for the welcome, Adrienne! you must have an RV full of stories after Life as a full-time RVer! Alaska waits for your visit, Best, Alex
Woo-hoo! Greetings from The White Mountains of NH to you, all the way up in Alaska!! SO nice to make your acquaintance! My son will be visiting your neck of the woods at the end of May and early June, when he and his new bride will be taking their honeymoon in your beautiful state. Thanks for a great post … a wonderful ‘beginning’! Looking forward to reading many more!
Thanks for the warm welcome, Cathi! Your son and daughter in law will love it up here, especially with their mountain roots. Your Mountain Farmgirl life is enviable, and I thank you for sharing it with us, too! Best, Alex
Toni Reams says: Dear Alexandra,
Welcome to MaryJanes Sisterhood. I love reading about how other women share their interests,knowledge, and love of our country and sisterhood values. Congratulations and I look forward to reading about your farmgirl experiences. Blessings,
Toni
Thanks for your kind words, Toni. Best, Alex
Nan Roberts says: Welcome Alexandra. It’s great to meet you and to learn about your farm and Louise Kellog. I am encouraged by what you said about seeing opportunities and not giving in to the naysayers. (I’m my own best naysayer.)I, too, am looking at and for new beginnings in my life, hopefully starting with my garden. Here on the Central Oregon Coast, we have milder weather than you do in the winter, but it is probably more variable. Last night we had hail, sleet, rain and heavy winds. Today, it’s sunny and quiet.
It’s nice to meet your dear dog, too, and the little chicklet as well.
Nan
Thank you, Nan! Darn those naysayers…They can be so easy to give in to, but the emotional reward of overcoming them is even better! I hope your garden works out; Oregon has great potential for veggies and berries! Cheers, Alex
Annie says: Welcome Alex! I love to see "newcomers" because it means there is still hope for me! I grew up on a very large, family owned, dairy farm. It is my hope someday to go back. I have spent nearly 30 years working in one of those office jobs in order to get good retirement and health insurance. I have only 4 years to go, and then I hope to be able to get back to cows, chickens, and llamas! The older I get, the more certain I am that I want to get back to my roots. I have done the "responsible thing" that my parents wanted me to do, which means staying at a job long enough to earn retirement benefits and security. But my "life" will not really start until I can get back to the country and the farm where I grew up. All these blogs are such an inspiration to me. Please keep it up – you never know the effect you might have on someone, or that maybe on a particular day, they needed to hear just what you had to say! Love, Annie
Thanks for your kind words, Annie. While you may not be incredibly happy with your position now, it’s refreshing to see that you are still inspired to follow your dreams. You are an inspiration to me! Best, Alex
Welcome! I live in Seldovia, Alaska and am glad to see an Alaskan Farmer Girl being featured. I look forward to reading your articles.
Hugs,
Sandee
Thanks fellow Alaskan, Sandee! It is a pleasure to live in a such a unique and beautiful place! Cheers, Alex
Jo says: Welcome! Looking forward to getting to know you better through the adventures and musings you share. New beginnings can be exciting and so full of optimism if we let them.
Thanks Jo! New beginnings are time consuming but oh-so rewarding!
Carol says: Welcome, Alex!
I’m so excited for your new beginnings and can’t wait to read more about your life in Alaska. Welcome to the farmgirl fold!
Carol from MaryJanesFarm
Alicia says: Welcome, Alexandra! I’m excited to read your blog. Sounds like you are a true farmgirl 🙂
Ace says: Welcome Alexandra!
How exciting it must be to live and work on a farm in Alaska. My name is Ace and I work at ‘henquarters’ here at MJF. One of my job descrips’ is social media, so I will be posting up your entries on Facebook/Twitter and the like. 🙂 Looking forward to hearing about your adventures, your inaugural post was a pleasure to read! Louise is quite the amazing role model.
Toodles, and best of luck!
Ace
Thanks fellow co-worker, Ace (cool name)!
hi alex i’m so excited to hear more from AK! i too farm in Idaho and always dreamed of being a pilot in AK. I grew up in a flying family in Chicago and love the idea of being somewhere so remote and beautiful. stay warm!
Thanks Kate! I love those Idaho farms, and I love that you are from the midwest! Any flying in your future? Best, Alex
Nicole Christensen says: Welcome, Alex! I’m looking forward to reading your blogs. The first picture of Pioneer Peak is breathtaking, and Taz is a real cutie, too. Glad to "meet" you! Big Farmgirl Hugs!
Your blogging sis’, Nicole (Suburban Farmgirl)
Thank you, Nicole! I love your blog, as I am a born and bred Suburban girl. I’m lucky to live out here with cute animals and awesome views! Cheers, Alex
That place where you work and live sounds really exciting 😉 🙂 My family used to live in Alaska years ago…and they all still talk of it with fond memories 😉 🙂 Have a great weekend. Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 😉
p.s. I’m MaryJane’s Farmgirl Sisterhood Member #2176 🙂 🙂 🙂
Thanks for the smiley, warm welcome from California!
meredith (hereford girl) says: Welcome Alex! So glad to have "met" and cant wait to read more about your life adventures! Taz looks like the ultimate farmgirl- calm,gorgeous, and totally in control of her surroundings! I have a dog named Rose Marie who fits the mold well too. She adopted my family after someone dumped her at the end of our farm lane about 8 months ago, and has slid into the role of boss dog without a hitch. That is saying something about her diplomacy considering we already had four other dogs! Anyway, welcome and glad to meet you!
Thanks Meredith! Taz is the best–you describe her to a T (for Taz). I can only hope that my future farm dogs will be as great as she is. Your Rose Marie sounds like she was meant to be part of your farm from the get-go! Best, Alex
meredith (hereford girl) says: Welcome Alex! So glad to have "met" and cant wait to read more about your life adventures! Taz looks like the ultimate farmgirl- calm,gorgeous, and totally in control of her surroundings! I have a dog named Rose Marie who fits the mold well too. She adopted my family after someone dumped her at the end of our farm lane about 8 months ago, and has slid into the role of boss dog without a hitch. That is saying something about her diplomacy considering we already had four other dogs! Anyway, welcome and glad to meet you!
Thanks Meredith! Taz is the best–you describe her to a T (for Taz). I can only hope that my future farm dogs will be as great as she is. Your Rose Marie sounds like she was meant to be part of your farm from the get-go! Best, Alex
KimberlyD says: Welcome, its good to meet you. I’m from the midwest, I live in Michigan. I enjoyed your post on Alaska and look forward to many more of your blogs.
Thanks Kimberly!
Debbie says: WElCOME to the family Alex! Hip Hip Hooray! Glad to have you here! You’ve accomplished so much already in your young life. So great to have you join " the sisterhood ". After reading your first post I have to believe that Louise is right by your side spurring you on to continue the dream! I look forward to your future posts!
Your MJF Beach Farmgirl Blogging Sister
Deb
Why thank you fellow blogging sister, Deb! I’m so excited to be part of the blogging crew. We have some incredibly inspiring readers!
Cheers, Alex
Debbie says: Welcome Alexandra, I’m looking forward to reading more!
Thanks Debbie!
Louise Marie says: Welcome Alexandra! New beginnings! i have done my share of those in my 62 years. Hearing about Louise was like a song to my heart. And, she is my namesake. You don’t meet many Louises these days. She reminds me of my great grandmother who left Poland for America with her young children after her husband was murdered by thieves. I am so impressed with stories of strong women. Thank you for yours. God bless you as you start your new beginnings.
Louise! What a great name, thanks for your warm wishes. Your great grandmother must have been quite the woman!
Diane Van Horn says: Welcome Alex! I will be looking forward to your posts. I am from Southern WI and just like you, I am inspired by the dairy farms that are part of my State’s history and hopefully, future. Louise sounds like an amazing woman and a wonderful muse. I am so glad that she is being recognized for her contributions and spirit.
My Hubby is in love with Alaska and wants us to move there. I am not so sure. I have been looking for a hobby farm in the Driftless Region of WI for the past couple of years. I look forward to your posts so I can get a glimpse of Alaska through your words and pictures.
Diane, you make me yearn for the Driftless area–such a beautiful, secret place. In college I dreamed of having a farm and teaching near Viroqua, spending my weekends canoeing on the Kickapoo river…
Cheers, Alex
Nora in CT says: Welcome! I’m looking forward to getting to know you and your special world. I have a fondness for Alaska tho I’ve never been there cuz my aunt, uncle, and grandmother lived there for a number of years (and lived thru the great quake) and loved it and my nephew and his wife lived there for a time doing commercial fishing. Also, I love yurts. LOL
So many diverse farmgirl voices and ways to live the life give me a feeling of hope that one day I may be a farm(old)girl someday myself!
Hi Nora! Thanks for the warm welcome. Yurts are amazing, I want to live in one in the near future. Think of how great this world would be if we all embraced our inner farmgirls! You can do it!
Welcome Alexandra . . from Alaska!
Thanks for sharing your life with us and I trust your experience as the Rural Farmgirl "Blogger" will one of tremendous reward.
Grew up on a farm here in southwest Colorado where I still live (returning after a few years in the Arizona desert) with my hubby, dog, cat, llama and hobby herd of Longhorns.
WELCOME!
CJ . . . aka "ceejay48"
Kim McNeil says: Dear Alex,
How providential to see your blog this morning as I’m having my first cup of coffee in Sandpoint, Idaho. I’m a 64 yr. old "farmgirl" originally from New Orleans, but even in our yard there, we raised chickens, bees and did our organic gardening. We’ve been in Idaho for a bit over 10 yrs relearning how to do what we knew from a northern perspective.
But "new beginnings" is very important to me this week as my husband, George, of 45 yrs passed away this past Mon. He was one of those incredible men who believed that with a brain and a library card, you could accomplish anything. So now I’m facing a completely new beginning and it’s a wee bit daunting, paticularly at my age. Your telling Louise Kellogg’s story was inspiring and I hope when this week is over that I’ll have the courage and spirit to move forward in the same manner. On our 21 acres, there is so much that we started and though, I am committed to our plans, in the last few days I have taken more than a few deep breathes. So for me (and you) your maiden voyage here has already made a difference in someone’s life (mine) and I look forward to the comments of other’s who read it and further thoughts and insights from you in the future. Thank you so much and God bless you.
Kim McNeil
Kim, your story is incredibly moving…and it brought tears to my eyes, as I know it did for other readers, too. George (one of my absolute favorite names) sounds like a rare breed of man that the world needs more of. I hope you can find solace in working your farm and seeing some of George in the growth and life in the land you both loved. Grief, to me, is like smoke…heavy and seemingly inescapable at first; yet it slowly dissipates (but never disappears). It is cathartic and debilitating at the same time–but necessary. You will come out of this on top, Kim! There are women around the nation sending you peace and love. I hope you can feel it. Best, Alex
Brenda says: I have a warm place in my heart for Alaska. My daughter and son in law lived in Anchorage for 3 years and I was there when their first son was born. Then our son went to school at UA at Fairbanks. I’ve flown up 4 times and miss that there is no one to visit now. Love your pictures. And I will always dream of being there again someday. Welcome aboard!
Thank you for the kind welcome, Brenda! Alaska is a beautiful place and I feel very lucky to live here (at least for the time being). It’s great that some of my readers will be able to identify with my experiences. Cheers, Alex
Nate Norman says: Alex, fantastic writing! I wish you the best in your current endeavors.
Lorrie MacKenzie says: Welcome from me too! I live at the end of a dirt road in a growing rural town in northeast San Diego county. I am looking forward to hearing your stories. You sound brave and open to new experiences. I predict that you will have a very interesting life.Thanks for sharing it!
Thanks for the warm welcome, Lorrie!
Alexandra Wilson says: Thanks to ALL of your for your warm welcomes! This is an amazing opportunity and I’m looking forward to responding to all of your stories and hellos–until then. THANK YOU! You are all great people and I’m so grateful to have met you, if not in the "real world" at least through the wonders of technology!
Sending peace and love,
Alex, the rural Farmgirl
Carolyn K says: Hey Alexandra! It was so great to read your blog & read about you & what you’re doing in AK! I love the photos & the history. I live in rural Isanti County, near Braham, MN & I noticed you’re from around here. We have a little hobby farm & we’re so happy to be doing the whole organic thing with chickens, apple trees & honeybees. Everything we’ve made or remodeled has been with recycled materials. My husband remodeled a little room for my writing and art studio, using all reclaimed wood that is 101 years old. Our chicken coop is made out of reclaimed materials and this spring we’re making a greenhouse out of materials that were advertised online. We’re looking forward to getting a larger animal like a cow or sheep. I love coming online & reading people’s stories, I’ve been a reader of Mary Jane’s farm for about 4 years & it was what inspired me to get out of the Twin cities in the first place. It is beautiful here with the sun rising almost due east now, & we have Common Redpolls at the feeder which I haven’t seen before. Happy Spring! Peace, Love & joyous farming! <3
Carolyn, your farm sounds perfect! I hope to one day have a very familiar situation in nearby NoDak! Thanks for sharing and enjoy the balmy MN spring! Best, Alex
Alexandra, it is just wonderful to read such enthusiasm! I hope all your dreams come true! And by the way, your profile pic is just so sweet, you look so happy and ready to enjoy life to the full… Good for you! May God bless you. Catherine
Thank you for your wonderful compliments, Catherine! Best, Alex
Gail Pederson says: Dearest Alex, The Pederson family…many generations of MJF farmgirls deep in North Dakota are so proud and wowed to call you our own! Through the many generations of stewardship and conservation for the land we have been allowed to call our own, each generation has not only preserved but renewed our responsibility for the soil we hold dear. With your environmental education you will be able to take it one step further and share it with people who do not have our opportunity.
New beginnings while seemingly linear are full circle for some in my family. Happy Farming and we can’t wait to read more.
Thanks Gail! I have you to thank for my first exposure to MJF (coming in a future post!). Love you and miss you!
Jenna Klink says: Hi Alex! You’re an excellent writer. Maybe your dream of having an educational farm in the Midwest could somehow coincide with Mike’s dream of growing his own food for his restaurant. We’re going to start with a restaurant in Madison within the next few years, but once he’s established a reputation, his dream is to have a restaurant in a farmhouse and grow most of the produce and raise animals right there. We would absolutely love to come up and visit you at some point. I hope we can make it work financially and with our work schedules! Love and miss you lots!
JK! Miss you girl, hope you, Ajaya and Mike are happy in Madison. I love the plans for your future and I see them coming to fruition! Love you, A
nameLouise says: I don’t live on a farm but am 86 years old and love to read the blogs. I can just relax and think what a great life you are all enjoying. I liked haveing lots of flowers and a big garden. Loved canning fruits and vegetables. Can’t do things like that now but we are still quite active and I like reading because it reminds me of the past. I live in Springfield, Il, and all our kids and grandkids live here but one. He is a park ranger in the Grand Tetons in Wy. My best to all of you. Louise
t
Check out this Alaska Farmer’s website for sharing and selling local food!
http://www.myalaskafarmersmarket.com
Love your blog, Alex!!
Welcome, welcome to the new year — full of good times, challenging times, and wonderful things yet to be…
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Vickie says: 2011 taught me the value of friends both old and new and the joy of family. It also taught me to be a farmgirl as I started farm life with family on a small farm and have animals to love and care for. 2012 is the year to gain more knowledge – to grow strong seedlings and a better garden and to learn to be more frugal while making time always for family and friends. I can’t believe how busy you are when you are no longer working a full time, out of the home job! With all of the hardships in the world today it is a blessing to have a home, people to love, and things to do each day. Life is good!
thank you Libbie. I agree so much with you! Simplicity is the key–and a large open space 🙂 Happy 2012!
I love what you shared Libbie! All one needs is wide-open spaces and time with the family 🙂 blessings in 2012!
Judy Pitford says: Thanks for sharing your spirit, Libbie. Here in MO fewer and fewer young people can afford the farm life. The sacrifices are too big. Being frugal seems too much. After 41 years of marriage and 37 of them on the farm I know it’s so worth it. How blessed we are. Thank you for reassuring those who are living LARGE on the farm.
What did I learn?
That giving up is pointless.
That hard work brings its own reward.
That there is no such thing as "luck," there is opportunity that we take or not take.
That the death of one thing often leads to the beginning of something wonderful.
That life is short and we should never forget to enjoy ourselves!
Brenda says: That my own home with what I already have, my little community, the library, grocery and local shop owners, the family I’ve been blessed with, the animals I get to take care of, the gardens that are abundant and the love of God are all that I need.
Rose says: First time blogger here…
It’s rewarding to read such enthusiastic entries from everyone! Libbie you are indeed fortunate. What a lovely and rewarding life you have so vividly put into view for all of us. Yes, indeed it is the simple things in life that should bring us the most joy, void of the fast pace world’s complexities and anxieties. This last year, 2011, has been a rough one for me. I am making all efforts to positively and productively embrace 2012. I too make out-of-reach expectancies of myself as new years enter and old years fade. In fact I have outdone myself for 2012’s resolutions! I will ease the tension I have placed on myself and take your advice Libbie by adding, "more often than not" to those over-zealous demands.
Shery says: Yes, the best good times are simple pleasures I think and not all that hard to find. I love the photo of you and your family’s shadows on the rock-face behind.
Doris says: Good job
is a certified farmgirl at heart. She’s happily married to her beach bum Yankee husband of 20 years. She went from career gal to being a creative homeschooling mom for two of her biggest blessings and hasn’t looked back since. Debbie left her lifelong home in the high desert of Northern Nevada 10 years ago and washed up on the shore of America’s hometown, Plymouth, MA, where she and her family are now firmly planted. They spend part of each summer in a tiny, off–grid beach cottage named “The Sea Horse.”
“I found a piece of my farmgirl heart when I discovered MaryJanesFarm. Suddenly, everything I loved just made more sense! I enjoy unwinding at the beach, writing, gardening, and turning yard-sale furniture into ‘Painted Ladies’ I’m passionate about living a creative life and encouraging others to ‘make each day their masterpiece.’”
is a “MaryJane Farmgirl” who lives in a large metropolitan area. She is a lawyer who has worked in both criminal defense and prosecution. She has been a judge, a business woman and a stay-at-home mom. In addition to her law degree, she has a Masters of Theological Studies.
“Mustering up the courage to do the things you dream about,” she says, “is the essence of being a MaryJane Farmgirl.” Learning to live more organically and closer to nature is Rebekah’s current pursuit. She finds strength and encouragement through MaryJane’s writings, life, and products. And MaryJane’s Farmgirl Connection provides her a wealth of knowledge from true-blue farmgirls.
an old-fashioned farmgirl with a pioneer spirit, lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. As a “lifelong learner” in the “Live-Free-or-Die” state, she fiercely values self-reliance, independence, freedom, and fresh mountain air. Married to her childhood sweetheart of 40+ years (a few of them “uphill climbs”), she’s had plenty of time to reinvent herself. From museum curator, restaurant owner, homeschool mom/conference speaker, to post-and-beam house builder and entrepreneur, she’s also a multi-media artist, with an obsession for off-grid living and alternative housing. Cathi owns and operates a 32-room mountain lodge. Her specialty has evolved to include “hermit hospitality” at her rustic cabin in the mountains, where she offers weekend workshops of special interest to women.
“Mountains speak to my soul, and farming is an important part of my heritage. I want to pass on my love of these things to others through my writing. Living in the mountains has its own particular challenges, but I delight in turning them into opportunities from which we can all learn and grow.”
Dori Troutman is the daughter of second generation cattle ranchers in New Mexico. She grew up working and playing on the ranch that her grandparents homesteaded in 1928. That ranch, with the old adobe home, is still in the family today. Dori and her husband always yearned for a ranch of their own. That dream came true when they retired to the beautiful green rolling hills of Tennessee. Truly a cattleman’s paradise!
Dori loves all things farmgirl and actually has known no other life but that. She loves to cook, craft, garden, and help with any and all things on their cattle farm.
describes herself as a goat charmer, chicken whisperer, bee maven, and farmers’ market baker renovating an 1864 farmhouse on an Ohio farm. With a degree in Design, Mary says small-town auctions and country road barn sales "always make my heart skip a beat thinking about what I could create or design out of what I’ve seen.”
Rooted in the countryside, she likes simple things and old ways … gardening, preserving the harvest, cooking, baking, and all things home. While you might find her selling baked goods from the farm’s milkhouse, teaching herself to play the fiddle, or sprucing up a vintage camper named Maizy, you will always find her in an apron!
Mary says, “I’m happiest with the simple country pleasures … an old farmhouse, too many animals, a crackling fire, books to read, and the sound of laughter … these make life just perfect.”
is a budding rural farmgirl living in Palmer, the agricultural seat of Alaska. Alex is a graduate student at Alaska Pacific University pursuing an M.S. in Outdoor and Environmental Education. She lives and works on the university’s 700 acre environmental education center, Spring Creek Farm. When Alex has time outside of school, she loves to rock climb, repurpose found objects, cross-country ski on the hay fields, travel, practice yoga, and cook with new-fangled ingredients.
Alex grew up near the Twin Cities and went to college in Madison, Wisconsin—both places where perfectly painted barns and rolling green farmland are just a short drive away. After college, she taught at a rural middle school in South Korea where she biked past verdant rice paddies and old women selling home-grown produce from sidewalk stoops. She was introduced to MaryJanesFarm after returning, and found in it what she’d been searching for—a group of incredible women living their lives in ways that benefit their families, their communities, and the greater environment. What an amazing group of farmgirls to be a part of!
Suburban Farmgirl Nicole Christensen calls herself a “vintage enthusiast”. Born and raised in Texas, she has lived most of her life in the picturesque New England suburbs of Connecticut, just a stone’s throw from New York State. An Advanced Master Gardener, she has gardened since childhood, in several states and across numerous planting zones. In addition, she teaches knitting classes, loves to preserve, and raises backyard chickens.
Married over thirty years to her Danish-born sweetheart, Nicole has worked in various fields, been a world-traveler, an entrepreneur and a homemaker, but considers being mom to her now-adult daughter her greatest accomplishment. Loving all things creative, Nicole considers her life’s motto to be “Bloom where you are planted”.
Your salad in a jar sounds yummy. I’d love to see a picture of one, might help me convince the family to try it. Thanks for yor posts I am really enjoying my visits to Alaska, through them.
You have a great handle on using spices at an early age; that is awesome. I love your salad in a jar idea. Will have to try it! Thanks for sharing your tips. I will think of you this evening as the sun sets…a lot sooner than where you are!
I love the salads in a jar idea too!!! Loved reading your post!
Kelly in Ca
Love the salad in a jar idea especially the idea of preparing once for a week’s worth of lunches. Candied spruce tips…
sounds good. Thank you for your wonderful blog and pictures.
Try some curry. That’s a wonderful flavor. Also, dill has become one of my best friends. Great in coleslaw!
I just love your post. You are such an interesting young lady. I love to try spices and herbs too, I make goat cheese and herbs and spices are vital! Love the salad in a jar idea.
Love spices and herbs. Like the others–the salad in a jar sounds like a wonderful idea. It is time for me to start using my lettuce–got a late start this year.
Tell me more about the spruce tip syrup and candies. I am intrigued!
Kathy
Herbal Maid Fiber Farm in Missouri
Hi Alex!
I have been a Mary Jane’s farm gal for only a little while and haven’t fully explored all the blogs yet; today I happened to click on the link Mary Jane posted for Rural Farmgirl and what a wonderful surprise to see that you are in Palmer, Alaska! I had the opportunity to visit the Wasilla/Palmer area last year in June and have family living there still…I can totally relate to the later dinner times and the screwy appetites! I loved the lush green everywhere… It was so hard for me to explain to people how it never really got dark and how easy it started to get to be up for 20 hours a "day" and still have energy… Will be following your blog from now on. 🙂
Tarragon makes a deliciously sweet addition to chicken pot pie. I only make that in winter, but it is wonderful then! I’d say for summer, you should go for basil or oregano. Pesto is very summery.